Tori's Story
by SamanthaRose
Summary: Max and Ashley meet up with a mysterious stranger while trying to get to the next safe room... A stranger with a secret. Meet Tori, my newest character who will probably be making another appearance in a story to come... Rating for language


The dark stranger that Max and Ashley had found on their travels hurried with them into the safe room, all three of them dripping on the floor, clothing soaked through by the pouring rain outside.

While they both fussed with their clothes, trying to wring out what water they could, scouring the safe room for supplies, the stranger simply stood by the door and lit a cigarette calmly, a deep sigh escaping him.

He breathed with a rasping sound, coughed from time to time, and when he spoke…

The voice that issued forth was unlike anything they'd ever heard before. A deep rumble more than a voice, a growl almost. He seemed a pleasant enough guy, but there was something off about him. Max wasn't sure if it was the long leather coat, the wide brimmed hat, the fact that the guy was armed with only an axe or the morbid way he knew exactly where every nook and cranny, every twist and turn off the beaten path was as they had rushed to the safe room.

Under the light, Max could see the ashen color of the strangers hands and startlingly enough, the hard black claws that graced the ends of his fingers. The strangers face was still hidden, but now he could see the light reflecting off of amber eyes under the brim of his hat.

The stranger took the cigarette from his mouth and let out a wet, hacking cough, drawing in a rattling breath before chuckling. Smoke curled around his head as he hovered in front of the door, seeming to be content not to move from his spot.

It gave Max the sudden feeling that he was trying to keep them in.

"Not much to look at here. Too much to ask for a nice book to read or a bed to sleep on." The stranger murmured, tilting his head to the side ever so slightly. His heavy combat boots carried him across the floor a little ways and he shoved his hands into his pockets, cigarette dangling out the corner of his mouth. "I guess desperate times and all that."

"Hey." Max wet his lips, watching the stranger pace about the length of the room by the door. "W-we brought you here, so why don't you tell us a bit about yourself?"

Ashley turned to look at Max, frowning as she wandered over to join him. The gun he had given her from his dad's safe when the madness began was still clutched in her small hands, the image looking far too creepy for words. Ashley was petite, blonde hair, blue eyes and was still wearing the dress she had put on for church that morning. The gun seemed out of place, something right out of a Tarantino film.

"He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to." She hissed at him, glancing at the stranger. "Let him be."

"I can at least give you a name. Hell, I'll even tell you a story." The stranger turned to face them, reaching up with one hand to take hold of his hat. He paused, then tilted his head to the side again, chuckling. The chuckle dissolved into another bought of coughing, and when it passed, he held up his free hand. "Away put your weapons first. I'd rather not get shot for the story I'm about to tell you."

"We might need the weapons for the infected." Max protested, the stranger making a soft noise at the back of his throat.

"The infected won't attack you again tonight. Just don't scream or make any similar high pitched noises." He rasped in reply, gesturing his hand at their guns again.

Ashley was the first to put hers down, Max following suit, then they both settled in to listen.

The stranger paused for a long moment, then pulled his hat off and set it to the side, smoothing one hand over his long dark hair. It had been pulled back into a tail to keep it from getting in his face, the rain from outside not even putting a kink in it. Max believed the term was 'bone straight.'

The stranger's face was also ashen, and his eyes were the color of burning gold, an amber so rich it was like they had been chiselled from the substance. When he offered them a smile, revealing rather pointed teeth, Max's bad feeling began to get worse.

There wasn't just something off about this guy, Max was now sure he wasn't even human. In the middle of a zombie apocalypse, that didn't seem so far fetched, but it made his stomach squirm with discomfort.

"I see the looks on your faces. I know what you're thinking. So please, allow me to explain, but first! An introduction…"

The stranger swept himself into a deep bow, ponytail swinging over his shoulder, his voice rising a little to reach them.

"My name is Itoria Levon Henry." He straightened from his bow to face them again, still smiling. With those eyes and the ashen skin, it was a little unnerving. "You, however, can address me as Tori if it suits you. I prefer not to force people to drag around such a long name."

Turning and clasping his hands behind his back, Tori began to pace again, making a thoughtful noise and seeming to be trying to pick a good place to begin his tale. Ashley and Max exchanged a pointed glance, Max's hand twitching towards his weapon again.

Tori's arm shot out, one clawed finger pointing at Max even though the older male hadn't turned his head or shown any sign he was watching him.

"Don't. I'm not going to hurt you, so I'd rather not be hurt myself. Don't touch the gun, sir." Tori lowered his arm and clasped his hands behind his back again, continuing to pace. "I've found a good place to begin. I'll begin at the beginning."

When Tori turned a fiendish smile to them again, Max began to wonder how he had found the craziest person in the city and why he had invited him to join them.

"I was about your age. I suppose you could say I still am. That must seem like an awfully odd thing to say, but it will make sense in time. My appearance will likely give away the ending, so it's not like it will be a surprise.

I believe I was in college the day it happened, the day the first of us fell ill. History, I think it was. Sitting in the classroom, listening to the professor drone on and on and on about some drivel that was very minutely interesting. I believe I may have been thinking about how much I would have preferred being in Ancient Literature. I've never liked history… poetry is much sweeter.

Anyhow…

There was a girl that sat in front of me in class, I can't remember her name for the life of me now. She and I had attended a party the night before and had shared a rather pleasant… experience before the night was through. A little too much drink, a little too much music, a little too much skin showing, who knows the reason for it really, all that matters is that it happened.

I was rather ordinary to the untrained eye, considered a geek or a nerd by some, but those that attended parties with me had maybe caught a glimpse of my wild side. My… dark side, if you please."

Tori paused, looking over to see if he still had their attention. He offered them another smile and continued pacing, speaking once more.

"I remember I was excited to see her. She came late to class that day, and when she entered the room, I noticed she was awfully pale. Dark circles around her eyes. Clothing a little rumpled and hair a little dishevelled. I wrote it off as her being a bit hungover and didn't really think again on the matter. She didn't smile at me when she sat down, but I had expected that. My wild side was no longer showing, that curious darkness that drew her in, just like so many others in the past.

Class came and went slowly, as it always did, and it wasn't until the end that something of note actually did occur. It was at the end of class that she stood, this girl in front of me, and she picked up the bottle that was on her desk. I think it had iced tea in it, I remember the smell of honey and ginseng as we all exited the room. She screamed something about the project we had been discussing, then threw that bottle across the room.

I remember, it narrowly missed hitting the professor, who was on his feet and screaming back in a heartbeat, the two of them almost too loud for us to hear the clock chiming to signify it was time to go. I think I was embarrassed to be around her, to admit that I knew her, so I hurried out with the rest of them. Yes… I did smell it, honey and ginseng."

He let out a rattling sigh and closed his amber eyes briefly, not opening them right away as he continued to speak, as if he were remembering the smell in bliss.

"There were so many students in the hall between classes, a crush of bodies that moved from point A to point B like cattle, or sheep. It sickened me to be a part of the herd, but it couldn't be helped. To make it in our twisted world, I needed an education."

He paused to take a drag from his cigarette, a smirk playing on his lips as he exhaled.

"Funny, isn't it? None of that even matters anymore. Now it's all about who has the best… weapons." His amber eyes flickered towards them and the smirk became a grin. "Anyhow…"

Clasping his hands behind his back after tapping the ashes from his cigarette and sticking it back in his mouth, Tori sighed gently and continued once more.

"There were other people fighting in the hallway, the whole place becoming one big riot after a time. I remember I threw my own punches, screamed my own curses and got dragged off by one of the teachers who still had a good head firmly attached to her shoulders. I was put into an empty classroom and told to stay put for now, so I didn't quite have front row seats for the spectacle that followed, but I also wasn't in the nosebleeds.

It was like a blind person trying to watch a play. I could hear what was going on, but couldn't get the image of it into my head. It was almost like my brain didn't want to think about what was happening out there, past that door that blocked my view.

People were screaming, people were howling, there was the sound of people being beaten with fists, locker doors, trash cans, books, anything they could get their hands on. It was a feeding frenzy, all of them crying out for blood.

And blood came in from under the door after something heavy hit it. I began to count myself lucky that I was in here and they were out there. The rage that had been devouring me slipped away into a quiet contemplation, a sudden sense of knowing… this was just the beginning.

I guess it was that girl I was with. That was where I got it. Not that it matters to many where I got it, just that I got it in the first place. But for me, my mind didn't go first. For me, it was my body that changed the quickest. I threw my glasses in the garbage as I climbed out the window. I had no trouble scaling the drainpipe outside to get to the roof, and while my chest burned and I kept coughing, I felt stronger somehow. Those changes came quick."

Max's hand darted towards his gun, and Tori allowed him to grab it before reacting.

"Other changes…"

His tongue shot out across the room, wrapping around the weapon in Max's hands and tearing it away from him, catching it easily in one clawed hand as it flew towards him. Slowly, the appendage unwrapped itself from around the gun, creeping back into his mouth as he stared at them with those amber eyes.

"Other changes," he repeated. "Came slower. But they came none the less. Sit down, boy, I told you I wasn't going to hurt you. Do you think I get the chance to talk about this every day? This is liberating!" He shouted, more a snarl than a shout really, but a shout all the same. Max slowly sat down again, breath heaving in his chest, and Ashley flinched when Tori turned his eyes to her. "Bring me that."

He pointed at her gun with one black clawed finger, and she stood slowly, creeping across the room to hand it to him. Once he had both, he tossed them into the bathroom and flinched when one of them went off.

"You should always keep the safety on those things unless you're intending to use them. Although, I guess it is an unfair warning seeing as you WERE intending to use it and I was the one to take it away from you." Tori mused, regarding them both for a long moment before letting out another wet cough. "Where was I?"

"You were getting to the part where you didn't tell us you were infected when we found you." Max hissed, Tori fixing him with a blink and a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you never asked me if I was infected. I'm not just going to come out and say it while you're busy shooting up my brothers and sisters. Now, are you going to keep interrupting me, or am I allowed to go on?" The infected's tone was rather indignant.

"How are you still able to remember, how can you still even speak?" Ashley breathed, Tori letting out a disgruntled sigh.

"It must have been a stroke of luck, or Darwin's great legacy at work. I must have evolved into something more…" He stretched his arms out and flashed them another smile. "As it was, I found myself travelling on my own for some time. I made my way back home, becoming well aware that the other infected paid me no mind as I moved through the streets. As luck would have it, neither did the humans. I was left alone and unhindered, and when I reached my house and found it empty but for the smears of blood on the kitchen floor where my mother had been dragged off by my sister and my father, I couldn't even muster the emotion to cry.

I went up to my room and got my favorite jacket. It was going to be getting colder, probably raining quite a bit. That's what it does in this place, after all. I put on one of my father's hats, knowing he wouldn't be missing it, then I headed back out into the street to take in the sights.

Our world had been transformed virtually overnight, and all the little people that scurried and crawled around the streets in the dismal repetition of daily life were screaming and running. My soul must have been sickened along with my body because I found it fucking hilarious."

He let out a laugh as if to emphasize, the sound choked and strange.

"Unfortunately, I found myself to be a little like Spock, or Blade. Half and half, not belonging to either world. I had to make a choice…" Tori paused, looking out the door at one of the infected that was attempting to beat its way through a wall. "Become like one of the mindless horde, throwing themselves at everything without a taint, without infection… Or become one of the survivors, fighting for something more."

"Are you saying you're on our side?" Ashley's voice was very quiet as she spoke, Tori tilting his head to the side and addressing her without looking at her.

"I'm saying I fight for survival and freedom just as much as you do. I have enough of a mind left to do that and so far, it's suited me just fine."

"But you're infected." Max protested. "They're gonna kill you in the end regardless of good deeds, you know! They're not gonna risk spreading the infection again, especially a strain like yours!"

"Of course I'm aware of this." Tori admitted, turning to face them. "I wouldn't ever dream of stepping foot on your precious, untainted existences when and if all of this becomes a thing of the past. The most I would ask for is a place of my own, far away from the world so that I can't reach them and they can't reach me. I have no desire to linger in this world anymore. Like I said… I'm fighting for something more than all of this."

He lifted his chin ever so slightly, reaching over to pick up his hat. As he put it on and slid his fingers around the brim, his voice dropped into soft, careful tones.

"I suppose your next question will be, to what lengths would I go to achieve this dream of mine, correct?"

"No. I was going to tell you it's never gonna happen. They're not going to let these monsters keep roaming our streets, our world, no matter how far away you go!" Max shouted, holding one arm out in a protective gesture towards Ashley.

"Monsters?" Tori tilted his head to the side again, his hand reaching out to pick up his axe. The heavy head made a terrible noise as it dragged across the floor, and he gripped it one handed, his smile once again turning fiendish. "Monsters?"

"That's what the infected are… zombies. Monsters." Max breathed, Ashley letting out a whimper as Tori drew closer to them. "We're going to kill them all and find a cure and make sure they NEVER come back."

"Think about it, Max. We fight for survival. You are talking about going on a crusade… ask yourself this question." Tori lifted the axe and pointed it at him. Under the brim of his hat, his amber eyes had stopped glowing, but he didn't have them closed. They had changed… now they were the same color of the darkness. Black as pitch, chilling Max to his very core. "Which one of us is the monster?"

Max didn't have time to speak, and because his eyes were on the axe, he didn't see the large hand that swung out towards him, sinking sharp black claws into his throat and tearing it out with more ease than should have been possible.

Ashley screamed as a fountain of blood splashed over Tori's face, hands and jacket, the infected leaning his head back ever so slightly as a shudder ran through him. She scrambled backwards away from the body, still screaming, wishing she hadn't been stupid enough to let Tori take her weapon. He now stood between her and the bathroom, as well as standing between her and the only escape she could think of.

She was trapped in here with him, wanting to brave the horde outside rather than stay here now.

"Quiet, girl." Tori said softly, turning towards her. "You're going to wake things that should remain sleeping."

He swept his hat off his head again, eyes stained black still, ashen skin flecked with scarlet, and as he moved towards where she had backed herself into a corner, her screams dissolved into sobs and pleading.

"I told him I wasn't going to hurt him. I assure you, that was painless and quick."

His words did nothing to calm her, and he sighed dramatically.

"He got in the way of my goal, and I cannot allow that. As for you… I'm not going to kill you. I'm not going to hurt you." His hand reached out to cup the side of her face, one thumb stroking a crimson smear across it. "No… I'm just going to give you something more to remember me by, then I'll be on my way. Oh, and I'll be taking the guns with me. I would hate to see you splatter your pretty brains all over the wall."

She fought to get away from him, but his strength was uncanny. Her breath turned shallow and quick, her panic making dark spots crowd her vision, making it hard to see him as he tilted her face towards his.

Ashley opened her mouth to speak, but her words were smothered as he closed his mouth over hers, offering her little time to react before his tongue slipped between her lips.

His free hand dragged her close to him, the blood on his jacket staining the dress she wore even more than it already had been, his sharp claws dragging over her back as he moved his hand to squeeze the back of her neck.

The kiss was deep, there was nothing shy about it at all, and despite her terror and disbelief, she couldn't bring herself to pull away or fight him.

When at last he pulled away with a deep groan, she let out a little gasping cry, knees unable to support her as he released his grip on her.

"There. Something to remember me by." He growled, his heavy boots carrying him across the floor and towards the door. "Oh… I hope you were immune. If not, I'm dreadfully sorry. At least you can look forward to a future with little care for anything but the rage that will consume you. You won't have to mourn that boy of yours anymore."

He wrenched the door open, replaced his hat on his head, shouldered his axe and walked out into the rain, making sure to close the heavy door behind him.

As he walked into the darkness, a wicked smile touched his lips.

It was a shame about the boy, but the girl…

It had been too long since he kissed someone like that. Almost two weeks now. She was a pretty little thing, but as he left her behind, she became little more than just another notch on the bedpost.


End file.
